Max in San Francisco

Match 2

Opponent: Max "Max8176"
Opponent Rating: 4.0
Date: Wed 5 Sep 2007, 6:30 pm
Venue: San Francisco, Golden Gate Park
Surface: Hard
Result: 6-3 6-0

Shorter trip to the match this time. Found the right bus fairly quickly and a friendly jogger pointed me towards the tennis courts when I reached the impressive Golden Gate Park. 12 decent hard courts all available to the public - very rare back in the UK!

We had a short wait while what looked like a girls high school match, taking up 6 courts, finished up. On the nearest court to us a girl who looked about 15 was making steady progress against a girl who looked about 9.

Max hits double-handed both sides and plays with a Yonex RD7, just like a friend of mine back home. It's clearly the "two hands for everything" racquet of choice.

First set - got off to a 4-0 lead before Max won 3 games in a row, hitting some cracking early shots at sharp angles. Was getting worried but Max then missed a few to let me finish the set off 6-3.

Second set - dusk was closing in rapidly! This seemed to hinder Max more than me and I came through it 6-0 despite lots of good hard-hitting rallies.

Overall I really benefited from the previous match against Eric. I served better in this one, possibly because I wasn't trying to compete (in vain) with Eric's huge deliveries.

Max is a really friendly guy and hits a good ball. He dropped me back at the tram stop and gave me a quarter so I'd have the right change, but it turned out that the cash machine on the tram was broken so I rode for free. I owe you a quarter Max!

So I've made it through my San Francisco leg without losing my $50 (just). GraniteChief potentially lies in wait once I make it to Santa Barbara following a loop through Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon and LA. So a bit of sightseeing before I hit the court again, unless anyone crops up wanting a game at the Grand Canyon!